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Drew deal likely means Iglesias headed to Minors

Drew deal likely means Iglesias headed to Minors

BOSTON -- Stephen Drew's physical with the Red Sox should come "soon," general manager Ben Cherington said on Wednesday without actually naming Drew.

That means an official announcement of the shortstop's one-year, $9.5 million contract should follow soon, too -- although the Mike Napoli negotiations are a lesson that anything's possible.

"We're hopeful we've added some depth [to shortstop]," Cherington said of Wednesday. "Again, [I'm] not ready to announce anything. There are areas of the team at the beginning of the offseason I know I said were clearly holes to fill, and then other things that we were going to try be a little bit more opportunistic on. We've done a little bit of both, I guess, so far."

With the young Jose Iglesias in-house, shortstop wasn't as glaring of a hole for the Sox this winter as first base or the rotation. But Cherington and manager John Farrell both left open the idea that shortstop could be a position of upgrade, and Drew brings a legitimate bat.

The presumption when Drew agreed to terms Monday was that Iglesias, who will be just 23 next season, would still need to play every day because of his age and upside, and Cherington confirmed that Wednesday.

Once Drew is officially in the fold, Iglesias will likely be ticketed for Triple-A.